Albion Christmas Band         
Kings Place, London
 

THERE can be few better ways to usher in the festive season than an evening in the company of the Albion Christmas Band, who have been warming up audiences ahead of yuletide for 18 years now, though with a changing line-up over time.

This incarnation — featuring the combined folk talents of Simon Nicol, Kellie While, Simon Care and the band’s founder, Ashley Hutchings — has been one of its longest running, and has honed its traditional offering of Christmassy tales and readings, seasonal songs and amusing chat to perfection.

It’s a simple idea but one that’s finely executed. In the wrong hands many of the non-singing exploits might drop on stony ground — Simon Nicol’s humorous “drunken” reading of a Keith Floyd recipe for Christmas pudding, for instance, could easily have fallen flat, but he pulled it off with actorly aplomb.